Last week's retirement of Kenny Florian would make for a great opportunity to recognize the slow but steady decline of the original cast of The Ultimate Fighter, the group of young, up-and-coming mixed martial artists who put the UFC on the map, but are now fading into UFC history.
Just one problem: there hasn't really been all that much fading.
Florian may be retired, but a respectable number of his former castmates are still keeping busy in the UFC. Forrest Griffin is preparing to face Tito Ortiz for the third time next month at UFC 148. His most famous rival, Stephan Bonnar, is riding a three-fight win streak and continuing a solid UFC career. Diego Sanchez has had the Fight of the Night in his last three bouts, and five of his last seven. Josh Koscheck is coming off of a tough loss to Johny Hendricks at the UFC on Fox fight card last month in New Jersey. Mike Swick is preparing to return from a long injury absence in August against DaMarques Johnson. Chris Leben is currently on the shelf as he continues to serve a drug suspension, but there's no doubt that when active, he remains a popular attraction in the middleweight division.
Even with Florian's retirement - which came less than three months after the retirement of former top middleweight contender Nate "Rock" Quarry - there are still six members of the TUF 1 cast on the UFC roster. Only two other seasons have more alumni on the UFC roster, 2010's TUF 11 (eight) and last year's TUF 14 (11). In those cases, far less time has elapsed since the show, and TUF 14 has helped add fighters to the UFC's three newest weight classes: featherweight, bantamweight and lightweight.
The truth is, the TUF 1 cast is on the decline, which only makes sense, since it's been seven years since Griffin, Bonnar, Florian and the rest of the crew moved into that mansion in Las Vegas. Griffin and Koscheck have fought for (and in Griffin's case, won) UFC titles, but they're highly unlikely to do so again. However, those fighters are still capable of competing at a high level, and their names continue to command attention in the MMA world, so they remain a credit to the UFC roster, far longer than many of those who came after them.
As one member of that group rides off into the sunset, it's a good moment to recognize how special they truly are.
